Wake up, leftists!

A few days ago I participated in a broad and diverse meeting of social movements, trade unions, left-wing parties, and digital activists, where the country's political situation and a common agenda for progressive forces in society were discussed.

I went to that meeting believing the agenda would be the rise of fascism in Brazil. Imagine my surprise when I started hearing proposals on civil rights that constitute an agenda for years and that didn't address the democratic breakdown that is occurring in the country.

Next to me at the meeting, the writer Palmério Dória (The Prince of Privatization, Geração Editorial) grunted with dissatisfaction. At one point he commented to me, through gritted teeth, about the autism of the left in the face of the gravity of the political moment.

Now it's my turn to speak, and I ask the obvious to those present: "Is there enough time to do all that you are proposing before the coup takes place and Brazil regresses to the Middle Ages due to the actions of the far-right Christian fundamentalism that is dominating the political scene?"

Palmério intervened to support my statement: "The question is this: will there be enough time?"

The biggest surprise of the meeting was the presence of a historic PT leader who demonstrated a level of detachment from reality that left me dumbfounded.

The veteran Workers' Party member uttered a gem that I won't put in quotation marks because I'm reciting it from memory: he said he didn't believe there was a rise of fascism and that the term shouldn't be used by the left so as not to "wear it down." And he asked what people intend when they ask if there will be time to change the government's agenda, abandon fiscal austerity, propose policies in favor of homosexuals, blacks, women, etc., so that only then will someone decide to support institutional legality and react to the coup.

Palmério was more offended than I was, as I'm more accustomed to the arrogance of a certain left wing that considers itself the owner of the ultimate truth and looks down on anyone who can see what Brazil's real struggle is right now – which is to stop the rise of fascism and a "white" coup d'état.

In that meeting, it was confirmed that I already had a perception that there are sectors of the left-wing opposition, especially in PSOL, who believe they will benefit if Dilma is ousted, if Lula is imprisoned, and if the PT is decimated.

These people think that without the PT (Workers' Party) to vote for, all the party's electorate will dump their votes on PSOL (Socialism and Liberty Party), which has 2 or 3 representatives, 1 senator, and which, among other things, proposes the nationalization of the financial system...

To top it all off, the meeting couldn't be complete without someone proposing a protest "against Levy and the fiscal adjustment" while the far-right promotes bomb attacks against the greatest left-wing leader in Brazilian history, for example.

I learned, for example, at that fateful meeting, that the MTST "cannot" support the Dilma government because all of its demands were not met. And, recently, the MST invaded the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance in the Federal District.

Do the MST or MTST have the slightest idea what will become of them under a PSDB government that would undoubtedly have the support of the media, the Judiciary, the Legislature, the Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Federal Police?

The MST and MTST occupy large estates and urban properties used as a store of value by a far-right that wants to remove the PT from power and destroy Lula. Do these movements have any idea what this despotic PSDB government would do to them?

They would be decimated, just like the labor movement and so many other social movements.

On the morning of Wednesday, August 5th, I spoke on the phone with a prominent journalist and blogger who made a shocking revelation, but one that encouraged me because this person had previously defended the infamous "June protests."

This friend reported that a leading figure in the Free Fare Movement – ​​a bunch of idiots who opened the doors to the fascism that is growing in the country – announced that it is dissolving. My interlocutor said the following: "They set the country on fire and now they're sneaking away."

Bingo!

Despite this, there are still those who try to sell the idea that the "June protests" served a purpose beyond bringing fascism and coup-mongering out of the closet. They just don't say what it all served for...

Just days after the PT's historic leader declared that there was no fascism in the country, the Lula Institute suffered a bomb attack and José Dirceu was "re-arrested" without a single acceptable legal reason – without being caught in the act, without evidence, without a trial, without a judge, and without a jury.

The only thing that can make fascism and coup plotters retreat is confrontation by democrats. A united left would have the capacity to confront them. They could occupy the streets and give the fascists a fitting response.

At that meeting, however, I heard from that historical PT leader that if the coup happens or if Lula is arrested, then – and only then – will there be a unified reaction from the left. In other words: the left might act, but only when it's too late.

Anyone on the left or center-left who thinks they can somehow profit if their rivals from the same camp are crushed has gone mad. If they managed to do what they're doing to a party like the PT and a leader like Lula, what won't they do to someone like Luciana Genro?

Ah, but the PSOL members are angels of innocence, all pure as newborn babies, they'll say. Well, who said that any concrete and unquestionable reason is needed to level accusations of "corruption" against leftists in present-day Brazil?

On the other hand, we see progressive people saying they are "discouraged" and willing to remain silent because "the PT [Workers' Party] doesn't react" or because "Joe from Justice" blah blah blah, blah blah, blah blah.

It's jaw-dropping.

Otherwise, let's consider this: suppose they arrest or kill – or both – all the members of the Workers' Party. Now, in this hypothetical future, the coup has already taken place. Will they stop there?

Congress, now under the leadership of the media-driven PSDB government, will implement outsourcing in the labor market, reduce the age of criminal responsibility to who-knows-what age – some say 10 years old – the Central Bank will become "independent" to be managed by national banks, racial and social quotas in universities will be eliminated, homophobia will gain massive support from the Legislature, and the repression of social movements will produce a Pinheirinho and an Eldorado dos Carajás every semester....

You who remained silent because you were "discouraged," should start practicing self-censorship. From the post-coup period onward, you will no longer be entitled to say what you think about politics and will have to pray that there won't be a witch hunt against those who, in the past, professed leftist ideas.

I've been warning the left since June 2013. I've never been heard. In fact, besides not being heard, I've become disliked even by people with whom I had friendly relationships. All for saying back then what any sensible person can see today.

Be that as it may, it is my duty, given the role I have undertaken, to once again issue a warning: either the left wakes up and unites in defense of Lula, the PT, and the Dilma Rousseff government, or it will be as, or even more, decimated than it was during the military dictatorship.

Time will tell – unless there is a reaction to the proposal.